Syracuse started fast and had to hold off Notre Dame, 88-85, on Saturday afternoon at the JMA Wireless Dome.

Here are the key takeaways from the win.

Syracuse logged 1.75 points per possession in building their 29-point first half lead, scoring 49 points on their first 28 possessions. At that point, Notre Dame committed a charge on their next possession, then averaged 1.75 points per possession over the next 21 minutes (63 points on 36 possessions) in pulling within 86-83 with just over a minute to play.

In other words, for as good as the Orange were on offense for the first 18 minutes, they were just as bad on defense over the following 21 minutes… against the team that entered the game ranked 273rd in the country by KenPom.com in adjusted offensive efficiency. This is why they are not a true bubble team for the NCAA Tournament, as inconsistency is the strongest trait of this team.

Miami, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, and Louisville entered Saturday with ten or more losses in conference games. SU is 3-1 against those four teams this season with the wins coming by three, three, and two points, all at home.

Syracuse allowed Notre Dame to score on 14 of their 30 first half possessions while forcing 11 turnovers. It was one of the best defensive halves of the year for the Orange and almost certainly their best first 18 minutes of a game on the year before giving up four straight scores.

The second half, however, featured a 20-for-26 shooting stretch for the Irish, including 10-of-12 from 3-point range.

All four of Justin Taylor’s shots in the game came as a result of working the baseline and three of them were assisted by Maliq Brown. Brown has four or more assists in four of the last six games, including 11 in the last two games combined. He has 23 assists in those half dozen games after totaling 26 dimes in the first 22 contests.

Chris Bell has 109 points in his last six games, good for 18.2 points per game, and is shooting 29-of-49 (59.2 percent) from 3-point range in that time.

Judah Mintz shot 5-of-7 on 3s against Cornell, bringing his early season shooting mark to 14-of-30 (46.7 percent) from behind the arc. Since that time, he is 8-of-44 (18.2 percent) from long range.

Peter Carey was cleared to play after suffering a concussion, and saw 4:31 of action, all in the first half.

Syracuse (18-10, 9-8 ACC) wraps the home portion of its schedule on Tuesday night when the Orange welcome Virginia Tech to the JMA Dome. The Hokies (15-12, 7-9) have lost five of their last seven outings, including a 79-64 game at Pittsburgh on Saturday evening.

The Virginia Tech backcourt leads the way, as Sean Pedulla and Hunter Cattour combine for over 29 poinst per game. Pedulla tops the squad with 15.6 points and 4.4 assists per game while Cattour averages 13.7 points per game and has drained 67 3-pointers at a 42.4 percent clip. Center Lynn Kidd also adds 12.7 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game. Tyler Nickel adds a third 3-point threat, having made 48 triples at a 41.4 percent rate, and averages 9.0 points per outing.

Tuesday’s tip-off between the Orange and the Hokies is set for 7:00pm Eastern and will be televised by ESPNU.

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